Newps wrote:

Are you kidding? At least around here Home Depot and Lowe's hires
plumbers for the plumbing department and electricians for the electrical
and lighting departments, etc. Go to the Mom and Pop shops like Ace and
Hardware Hank and if you don't get the owner you'll get some high school
kid and you'll be lucky if he knows where the plumbing aisle is. If I
know what I want I'll go to Ace, because it's closer. And I'll pay more
by the way. If I need help I'll stick with Lowe's and HD.

I brought up HD because I used to work for their ad dept. You've seen
Homer? I used to draw him. I have stock in HD and appreciate every dime
you spend there, thank you.

HD and Lowes will hire ex-contractors if at all possible, but it isn't
possible in every market, for a variety of reasons. The number of pros
they need to staff the stores isn't always available. I brought up this
issue long ago and was pooh-poohed by management. They have since found
out the reality. The stores in my area, here in Atlanta, _home_ of HD,
were more often than not, staffed by some part-time high school kid.
Part lack of qualified pros, part deliberate attempt to keep down
salaries and have a work force that was willing to work all hours. Try
to staff a store with pros 24 hours.

Ace and Harware Hank are chains and not what I mean by mom and pop
stores. I mean the _real_ no name stores.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino

"Cartoons with a Touch of Magic"
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com